Sunday, November 25, 2012

Why Leashes are Important

By Allyson Westcot


After your pet becomes well behaved walking on a leash, you may want to take it off occasionally. It could be tempting to go out without the leash and follow the same paths you routinely walk. This is not generally a smart idea, however. The benefits of employing a leash almost always massively outweigh the fun of going off-leash without plenty of planning and preparation.

When your dog is used to walking quietly on a leash, he's used to feeling that way while tethered to you. Take away the leash, and there is a decent probability that under calm circumstances with no surprises, your dog would at least stay near you if he's well trained enough. But in a number of cases, as soon as a dog realizes the leash can't stop him, he will go out of that comfortable range and put more space between you.

Even if your dog is so professionally trained that he stays by your side, you can't foretell how he'll react if another dog rushes up to him, or if an auto backfires near you. For some, all that it takes is the scent of a loose kitty to send them hurrying ahead.

We have all felt that unexpected jittery feeling that results from a burst of adrenaline after being scared or excited by something. Dogs have the same reaction. When that occurs, a dog's natural instinct might be to run, regardless of how much careful training there has been.

This is a huge risk, since it could result in a dog running so far that he becomes lost, or running into the street and deadly traffic. It's not worth the risk to your dog to go off the leash on your daily walk. There are dog parks and other places where going off-leash is in a safer environment. Prepare your dog for those if you'd like to enjoy some off-leash time, but utilise a quality harness and leash like those manufactured by EzyDog on your daily walks for safety reasons.




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